We are Temporary Celebrities

I stared at the Iris-message as my mom and Paul Blofis turned toward me. Paul's eyes flickered nervously as he stared at me, but he didn't look too surprised. My mom must have told him everything. Well, I'd given her good reason to. I stared at my feet uncomfortably, my last encounter with my family running through my head.

"Hi, mom," I said quietly.

"Percy," my mom replied, a small smile on her face. "How are you?"

"I'm alright."

"How is Nico?" she asked.

I looked up and saw that her smile had extended to her eyes. I smiled back. "I think he's doing pretty good. He, Annabeth, and I are going on a trip together. I won't be home for a while."

Her eyes clouded with worry, but she nodded. "How long will you be gone?"

I shrugged. "I'm not really sure." I looked up and I suddenly wanted to fling myself into my mom's arms like I did when I was little. I wanted to tell her everything that was wrong and have her comfort me and tell me that everything would be alright. I stared into her eyes and found myself fighting back tears. This could be the last time I would ever see her again. Her eyes glistened and I felt an understanding pass between us. She nodded to me.

Paul stared at me and then smiled. "We'll have to invite Nico over when your trip is over. I like you hanging out with friends."

"Thanks, Paul. And… could you do me a favor?" I asked.

"Sure thing," he said beaming. "What can I do?"

"Take good care of my mom. She's the best person in the world," I said, determinedly not looking at her.

Paul looked confused but he nodded. "I will, Percy."

"I have to go now. I love you, mom," I said, trying to fight down the lump in my throat.

She stared at me as if she were memorizing everything about me. "I love you too, Percy."

"Bye." I stepped backward. Feeling broken, I stepped forward again. "Mom…" The connection broke and my mom disappeared. I stared into the empty air.

A hand touched my shoulder. "Percy," Annabeth said. "It's time to go."

I turned away and wiped my eyes. Her hand tightened on my shoulder and I turned to face her. I smiled at her and she smiled back. I couldn't help but notice that her eyelashes seemed a little wet. She took my hand.

"Let's go. We have a long journey a head of us," she said, leading me back to camp. "Just one more step."

"One more step to the end," I whispered. "Isn't that what everything has been? Just another step to the end?"

Annabeth stopped walking and turned to face me. She looked at me firmly. "I don't believe that, Percy. You shouldn't either. Remember everything that you've done. If everything that you've accomplished has been a step to the end, then you wouldn't have done it. Percy, you don't fight for endings, you fight for beginnings. I know that. I've fought for them with you. You'll keep fighting for them and so will I."

"Thank you," I said. I suddenly pulled her close to me and hugged her tightly. "You're amazing, Annabeth. Do you know that?"

She hugged me back, but didn't say anything.

"Ahem," someone coughed.

I looked around and saw Thalia standing behind us. She looked a little strange. She was wearing a silver tunic with a red cape over the top of it. Her hair was twisted elegantly on top of her head and I could barely make out a tiara placed among the curls. None of it fit with her dark make-up. "Nico and Rachel are waiting for you. Nico says he's found an entrance to the underworld."

"An entrance? He's found one already?" Annabeth stammered, loosening her grip on me, but she didn't let go.

"He's good at that sort of thing. The underworld is his specialty." Thalia didn't sound too happy about it.

"I thought…" Annabeth stuttered to a halt.

"We'd better go," I said, nodding behind me.

Annabeth looked up at me solemnly. She nodded and let go of me, but she grabbed my hand tightly as we followed Thalia back to camp. As we approached, Thalia suddenly grabbed her hunting horn from her belt and blew a single, clear note from it. Answering calls soon echoed from the woods, all of them rising and falling together.

"Um… Thalia, what are you doing?" I asked.

"You'll find out," she smiled at me.

Thalia blew on her horn again and the woods in front of us became brilliantly lit with tiny lights. Annabeth and I stared at them in wonder.

"Fireflies," Thalia said, gesturing up at the leaves. "Amazing, what Artemis can do."

The hunting horns sounded again and the hunters appeared, standing side by side on either side of us like a guard of honor. They wore shimmering clothes of pale silver that sparkled in the light of the fireflies. Each of them were crowned with tiara's. Nico and Rachel came out of the trees and stood beside me and Annabeth.

Thalia took her red cloak off and two hunters came up and took it. They spread it out in front of an entrance to a cave that I didn't remember seeing before. Artemis and Grover stood beside it. The cloak suddenly didn't resemble a cloak any more. It looked like a carpet that movie stars walk on. I stared around and realized that we were supposed to walk on it. I swallowed nervously.

Annabeth let go of my hand and I looked at her. She was staring in wonder as a hunter came up and draped one of their silver cloaks over her shoulders. It was decorated with a pale moon and a bow and arrow. Rachel beamed as a similar cloak was put on her. Nico's eyes widened as another cloak was placed on him I jumped as I felt someone touch me. I looked around and saw that a small hunter was trying to put a cloak on me. She blushed as I looked in her eyes and she smiled slightly. I bent down so she could reach my shoulders. She attached the cloak and stepped back.

The cloak was surprisingly warm for being so thin. It was also extremely soft. I ran my hand down it in wonder. I looked up at Artemis and bowed my head to her. I was aware that it must mean a great deal for a boy to be honored with wearing a cloak of Artemis's. I'd never heard of it happening before. She smiled at me.

"Rachel Dare," Artemis called.

Rachel stepped forward and walked down the carpet. She bowed in front of Artemis.

"Rachel, be faithful to your friends. Take your skills and use them for good. Do not take them for granted. You have been blessed by the gods to have them. But with such a blessing, there will be a price." Artemis kissed Rachel on the forehead. "You have my blessing."

"Will there be a price to it?" Rachel asked.

Artemis smiled, but turned away from Rachel. Rachel stood up and stepped back beside Grover.

"Nico di Angelo," Artemis said.

Nico walked to Artemis and bowed.

"Nico, you have already suffered a great deal in your young life. But your suffering has not been in vain. You have found friends. As I said to Rachel, be faithful to them. As you led them, think carefully. You know your father. You know yourself and what you do not know, you will come to discover." Artemis did not kiss Nico, but she placed her hand on his head. "You have my blessing."

Nico joined Rachel and Grover as Artemis called, "Annabeth Chase."

When Annabeth knelt in front of her, Artemis began, "Annabeth, there are many choices left before you. Chose carefully. Use the wisdom that you have been blessed with. Think carefully. But remember that wisdom can create conflict with the heart." Artemis kissed her. "You have my blessing."

"Percy Jackson."

I walked down the carpet. It felt like it took a long time. All the hunters' eyes followed me. I could feel the piercing gaze of the goddess as I approached. I knelt down at her feet, wondering what words of guidance, warning, and comfort she would give me.

"Percy…" she stared into my eyes and I felt a shiver run up my spine as my eyes met hers. "Good luck."

I stayed kneeling were I was, stunned, as she moved away from me. After a few seconds, I stood up. I joined my friends, carefully avoiding their gazes. It's hard to explain what I felt. It was a mix of confusion, irritation, and rejection. I felt inadequate, lonely, and sad. I also felt a sense of relief that I didn't understand at all.

Grover turned to each of us and gave us each a tight goat hug. "You all be careful. Think of me, okay?" he said.

"Kill some monsters for me," I said as we hugged.

"Sure thing," he smiled. "And if you see any tin cans, pick them up, will you?"

Thalia stepped forward. She embraced Rachel. Then she hugged Nico. She stepped in front of Annabeth. "Be careful and don't get hurt," Thalia said. Annabeth nodded. Thalia moved to me. She hugged me and whispered, "Don't do anything stupid."

"I can't help it," I answered. "I'm a boy."

She laughed as she pulled away. "You're okay for a boy." Her eyes grew sad as she looked at me. "You really are a great person, Percy. If every boy was like you, then this world would be a nicer place."

"It is time," Artemis said from the entrance to the cave. "Nico has discovered this entrance to the underworld. You will all need strength and courage for what is facing you." She looked into my eyes. "Do not lose yourselves. Hold on to the things that you love."

We strung our backpacks over our shoulders, which was kind of awkward with the cloaks. As we moved into the cave, I realized that Artemis had given me council, but she had masked it as council for all of us. I just didn't understand why. We followed Nico further into the cave. The cave entrance sealed itself shut as we walked down, concealing the beautiful wood lit with thousands of fireflies.

"Welcome to one of the many secret entrances to the underworld," Nico's voice suddenly rang out through the dark. "I know it's dark, but it'll only get darker, so don't complain. And don't disturb any of the skeletons; they don't like it." He chuckled to himself and then he became serious. "Actually, I think we'd all better hold hands. There are a lot of tombs and stuff down here and I don't want anyone to get lost."

Two hands suddenly grabbed for my left hand. One hand was triumphant, but within seconds, my other hand was seized.

"Nico," I said.

"Yeah?"

He didn't sound like he was close to me. That confirmed my suspicion. I couldn't help but think that if Thalia was here, she'd be laughing at me. "Never mind."

It didn't take long for me to realize that the sound of our cloaks swishing on the ground had disappeared.

"Did we lose our cloaks, or did we all grow?" I asked.

"We didn't lose them," Annabeth's voice said from my left. She'd won the hand fight. "Feel your arm."

"I can't feel my arm. Both my hands are taken."

"Then feel mine," she said. She ran my hand along her sleeve. It felt just like the cloaks did, but it wasn't a cloak; it was defiantly a sleeve.

"What…" I began.

"The cloaks transformed into jackets when we entered the underworld. They are easier to wear that way and easier to fight in, if you need to. They won't get caught as easily. If you felt the front, you'd realize that they even have zippers and pockets," Annabeth said.

"But don't you dare let him feel the front," Rachel's voice shot out sharply from my right.

"So," I said, trying to change the subject. I could feel furry emanating from both the girls. "Nico, how long will it take to get where we are going?"

"I'm not really sure. Time is strange here, like it was in the Labyrinth. You could say there isn't really any time here at all. Who knows, we could have been down here for a few days already. We could get where we need to go in just a few minutes."

"A few minutes?" I asked, my stomach jumping.

Annabeth squeezed my hand as Nico said reassuringly, "It's possible, but not likely."

Nico was right about one thing at least; it was impossible to be sure how much time had passed. My body didn't even seem to be working in the same way. I didn't really feel tired, but I didn't want to keep walking.

We stopped to eat and sleep after what seemed liked about a day. When we lay down, our Artemis jackets turned back into cloaks that we used for blankets. Our backpacks made makeshift pillows. That weren't all that comfortable, but they worked.

I found that I wasn't able to sleep. I sat up and looked around. I could barely make out the figures of my friends on the ground beside me. I looked around for Nico. He was supposed to be on guard duty. I thought that I'd switch him, since I couldn't sleep anyone. It would have been a nice thing to do, but it turned out I didn't need to. Nico wasn't there.